


Redamancy

by LemonOtterpop



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bill is best big brother, Minor depictions of abuse, Multi, Not to Much, Running Away, Slow Burn, Stenbrough is my main hoe in this fic, Towards the end of the first chapter, but enough, i just want them to be happy but also I want to make them suffer a little bit, mentioned - Freeform, minor child neglect, or at least that’s the plan, reddie and benverly are my side hoe’s, the Denbrough parents suck in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:51:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonOtterpop/pseuds/LemonOtterpop
Summary: redamancy (plural redamancies)(rare) The act of loving in return.When Bill Denbrough is 17 years old, he packs up his 6 year old brother and runs away from home to a little beach town.





	1. Family values

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill Denbrough always knew his parents didn’t love him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 24/2/19

Bill Denbrough believed his parents loved him until he was 9 years old.

He had realised his mother seemed much less happy than all the other mothers when he was 5 years old and thought bringing her flowers would cheer her up.

He had been 7 years old when he realised his father had never played a sports game with him before but his father was a busy person, so it was fine.

He was 9 years old when he realised his parents never taught him how to ride a bike or threw him a birthday party. He was 9 years old when he realised that his friends parents didn’t leave them alone with microwave dinners over the weekend.  
He was 9 years old when he realised his parents didn’t love him.

 

It had been a subtle realisation, years in the making. Bill hadn’t even cared that much when he finally understood why his parents didn’t act like his friends parents did.  
He had been 10 and a quarter when his parents told him that he was going to have a brother. His parents were indifferent to it, most likely only having the kid to fulfill the American Dream of a white picket fence and 2.5 kids.

When he was 11 his little brother was born, his mother named him Georgie and told everyone how happy she was to have him, a true little miracle.

When they brought him home, his mother left him with Bill and went to bed.

His father had gone to work.

His parents looked after Georgie, they would feed him and bathe him but they never played with him and they never read him stories. Bill did that for them.  
Bill taught Georgie how to walk and talk, Bill read Georgie bedtime stories, Bill kept a box of cartoon band-aids in his bag, Bill walked him to school, Bill helped him with his homework, Bill tucked him in, Bill helped Georgie make the best costume for Halloween. It was always Bill

* * *

 

Bill had been 14 when he got his first job. It was an easy gig babysitting one of Georgies friends from preschool. He started saving for a car.

When Bill was 15, he would write people's essays for them if they gave him 50 bucks and he’d tutor them for 30 bucks. He still babysat Georgie’s friends.

When Bill was 16, he had saved enough money from odd jobs to buy a second-hand car from his ancient neighbour Mrs Loyts. It was an ugly silver Ford Fiesta from 1976 that had been gathering dust in the garage since Mrs Loyts husband had died 4 years prior but it only cost $5000 and a few months of mowing Mrs Loyts lawn and doing the groceries for her.

 

Bill drove Georgie to school for an entire month after buying it, despite what an eye-sore it was. Georgie loved it.

His parents hadn’t been happy with him and refused to let him park it in the driveway. It was a mixture of not wanting the horrid thing to ruin their picture perfect yard and that Bill had bought it at all.

They hadn’t wanted him to have a car, refused to even consider helping him buy one, so he did it by himself. The fact that it was ugly was just an added middle finger to his parents.

Mrs Loyts let him keep it out the front of her house, not bothered by having to see the same car she had driven around in for years on her curb every day.

The summer before Bill turned 17, something had changed. His parents, who had previously never cared what it was that he did as long as he didn’t embarrass them, decided now was the time to start enforcing rules.

They weren’t particularly stifling rules, Bill still had pretty much free reign to do what he liked, he just had a curfew now and needed to get his chores done on time.

Bill couldn’t help but be a little frustrated by the sudden change. They had basically been Bills roommates for years and now they wanted to start parenting. While a part of him was glad, knowing that this meant Georgie would be able to have a relatively normal home life now, a much larger part of him was angry at them for it.

Which is what inspired Bill’s miniature rebellion.

It had been a spite fueled idea to ignore all his new rules in favour of continuing on the way he had been.

 

The punishments started small, no phone, no dinner, no going out on weekends. Bill didn’t stop though, more stubborn than not and completely willing to die on the hill he had climbed. It got worse, much too quickly.

It was only a week into his experiment when it happened for the first time. He came home late from the library, had even messaged his mother to let her know he’d be late this time, rather than just turning up late unannounced.

That had been a mistake.

When he arrived home, his mother was sitting in the kitchen, an open bottle of wine and an empty glass in front of her. She had stood up silently and slapped him. Not hard enough for it to sting for more than a few seconds but hard enough for him to know that it had happened.

“You’re testing my patience Bill” she had said, before stalking away up the stairs, leaving him alone in the kitchen. Not another word was said that night and Bill didn’t talk to his mother for 3 days after.

 

Georgie climbed into his bed late at night after the third day had passed, ruminants of tear tracks on his face  
“Mom isn’t happy with you” he had whispered, while laying against Bill’s side  
“Yeah, I know” Bill had answered, staring at the ceiling, one hand on his cheek.  
“Please say sorry” Georgie looked up at him with wide eyes, hurt and scared.

 

So Bill apologised. He had done it over one of the rare dinners his mother was home, through gritted teeth so Georgie could see. His mother had tutted and nodded. Georgie had beamed at him.

 

It didn’t happen to him again. No matter how much Bill broke curfew or “forgot” to do the dishes.

 

Bill dropped his guard again and let everything go back to normal.  
Georgie played, his parents attempted to punish him but otherwise ignored their children, he wrote other people’s essays for them and stashes the cash in a tin box in the glovebox of his ugly silver car.

* * *

 

Bill was celebrating his 17th birthday, at his neighbours house with his little brother while his parents watched TV next door. He was pretty sure they hadn’t even realised it was his birthday yet.

 

Mrs Loyts was smiling, helping Georgie put blue icing on the cake they had been making, Bill wasn’t allowed to help. His job, according to Georgie, was to sit at the table with his party hat on and be excited.

 

Mrs Loyts’ dining room and kitchen had been turned into Bill’s unofficial party, after Georgie had let it slip to Mrs Loyts that Bill wasn’t celebrating that morning. Blue and silver balloons had been blown up and Georgie had drawn funny faces on them  before he put a blue party hat on Bills head and ran off to help Mrs Loyts make his birthday cake.

“I wish you’d told me about your birthday earlier dear” she sighed, scrapping more icing onto the spoon for Georgie “I would have been able to make something much nicer”

Bill grinned at her, eyes on Georgie who had his tongue stuck out in concentration  
“This is perfect Mrs Loyts, really” he insisted, as icing dripped onto the counter and Georgie’s hand “it’s more than my parents have ever done”

 

Mrs Loyts expression sours as she takes the spoon from Georgie and opens a draw, handing the candles to Georgie so he can stick them in however he wants  
“Yes, well. Your parents have never been great people” she hums, wiping the counter and Bill snorts.

 

Anyone else looking in would think that it was a rather sad situation, he was having a birthday cake at his neighbours’ house because his parents didn’t care enough and he had no friends but Bill felt nothing but happy.

Mrs Loyts lights the candles and carries the cake slowly to the table, singing “happy birthday” out of tune with Georgie. Bill blows his candles out in one go, he doesn’t wish for anything.

 

The night continues, it’s a nice affair and Bill enjoys himself. Mrs Loyts plays old music from a record player and dances with Bill and Georgie, they eat homemade birthday cake and laugh over silly things. It was a nice start to an otherwise sad beginning.

 

Mrs Loyts smiles at Bill as he helps her wash up in the kitchen, Georgie watching a movie on the TV in the living room. She shuffles to one of her cabinets, reaching for a worn tin cookie box and handing it to Bill with an unreadable expression, like she was halfway happy and halfway sad

“it was my husbands” she sighs “he kept it in the car, said it was for if he ever felt like a spontaneous getaway” Bill doesn’t open it, instead he kept his eyes on Mrs Loyts as she continued, not once pausing in her washing up. She wasn’t looking at him.

  
“Bill, I know your parents aren’t very nice people but I also know they haven’t hit you or your brother. If that ever changes, ever, I want you to pack up Georgie, get into silver and drive.” She puts one of the dishes away, picks up another and begins drying it

 

“there’s a man in a little town called Derry Cove. He’s an old friend, named Martin. He has a habit of taking in strays” another dish is dried and put away

“if your parents ever hit you or Georgie, even once, go to Derry” her movements are mechanical. Pick up a dish, dry it, put it away.

 

The way she’s talking to him so casually about this is unnerving and all Bill can think to do is nod. Satisfied with his response, Mrs Loyts smile returns. They finish the dishes quickly after that, not talking about it again.

It’s almost midnight when they finally decide to walk back home and Georgie's eyes are drooping but he still happily gives Mrs Loyts a goodbye hug before loosely taking Bills hand in his own and they begin the short walk to their own house, the tin biscuit box tucked safely under Bill's arm.

He puts Georgie to bed soon after they get home, dodging his parents who had fallen asleep cuddled on the couch watching a movie.

He puts the tin box under the back seat of Silver and that’s where it will stay until a time comes where it is needed.

* * *

  
  
The weeks pass mind-numbingly slowly and had it not been for the increasing frequent fights between Bill and his parents, he may not have been able to tell you what it was he had been doing the day before.

 

Georgie didn’t understand why they were fighting so much, honestly neither did Bill, it just seemed to be never ending at the moment.  
Bill remembers a particularly bad one, his parents had wanted the keys to silver, which Bill had refused to do. His logic being that he had paid for the car so they had no right to take it away.

 

It had ended with his father slapping him in front of Georgie who had then begun to cry. His father had left with his mother in tow, probably to the pub, flustered and angry from their disobedient son.

Bill had taken Georgie upstairs after that, packed two suitcases with the intent of taking Mrs Loyts advice and leaving. He didn’t go through with it but the suitcases remained packed, tucked away in the back of Bills closet, ready for the moment they need them. Georgie slept in Bills room that night.

His parents never asked him for the keys to silver again but the fighting didn’t stop. If anything it got steadily worse.

 

His parents moved on from yelling at Bill for his disobedience and instead decided to yell at him for other things. It seemed to move on from sad attempts at parenting to sad attempts at bullying.

 

Yelling at him for his barely there anymore stutter, criticising his fashion sense, insulting his interests. All things he had heard before from middle school bullies who meant nothing. None of it seemed to upset Bill, which seemed to frustrate his parents further.

It did upset Georgie. He didn’t like what his parents were saying to his brother and he wasn’t as prepared for the realisation that they did not love their children as Bill had been.

 

He had cried a lot, angry and upset that their parents could be that way. At the age of only 6 it was hard for him to get the right words out, so instead he cried.  
Bill was also much more tolerant of the crying than his parents were, as it turned out.

“Georgie, stop crying.” His father snapped, glaring at Georgie from his spot on the couch, where he was reading that days newspaper.

It was just him and his parents, Bill had to go to someone’s house to tutor them. Georgie hated it when Bill had to tutor people. It always left him alone with his parents and he didn’t feel as safe with them as he once did.

His father's words did not make him stop crying, in fact it made him cry more. He couldn’t really remember why he was crying, probably something silly but now he couldn’t stop.

 

Everything was too much and Billy wasn’t there to hug him and tell him a story. Billy wasn’t there to make everything feel better.

Instead, he got his dad, who was more interested in that day's news than he had ever been in Georgie.

Georgie did not cry loudly, you wouldn’t be able to tell he was crying at all if not for the tears that kept spilling out of his eyes. Nevertheless, it seemed to annoy his father.

“For Christ’s sake Georgie, your not a toddler. You don’t need to cry every time Bill leaves” his father muttered “go play upstairs. Now. Go, go”

Georgie didn’t waste any time, dashing up the stairs past his mother in the kitchen and directly into Bills room, curling up under his dark blue covers his face pressed into the mattress.

He stayed there until he heard the telltale sound of Silver parking and the front door opening, within an instant he’s up and running back down the stairs to meet Bill before his parents do.

 

He crashed into Bill with the entirety of his weight, Bill managing to catch him easily and heaving him up so that he was resting on his hip

“Hey, Georgie” he grins as Georgie clings tightly to him. Bill haphazardly drops his bag by the stairs and carries Georgie through the house, towards the kitchen.

“Moms in there” Georgie warns but Bill only shrugs, adjusting his grip. They walk past the sitting room, where their father is still sitting, now reading a book. He regards them with an annoyed tilt of his head and heavy sigh

“Put your brother down right now Bill” he mutters, Bill doesn’t listen to him instead attempting to heft Georgie higher on his hip. Their father sighs again, setting his book aside.

“He’s not a toddler Bill. Put him down” Bill rolls his eyes as a response, finishing his walk to the kitchen and then sets Georgie down on the bench.  
Their father gets up, stalking to the kitchen while their mother mutters something under her breath and sits down at the table as if getting ready for a show.

“You are going to stop coddling him Bill or so help me you will regret it,” he says darkly “he’s turning into a brat. He wouldn’t stop crying while you were out”  
Bill rolls his eyes again, grabbing ingredients to make himself a sandwich

“He’s 6, carrying him isn’t coddling. Just because you don’t know how to parents above the bare minimum of keeping us alive doesn’t mean I don’t”

 

Their mother gets up with a flourish, the chair loudly scraping as she points a long finger at Bill  
“Do not talk to your father that way William” she tuts, moving to stand next to their father “honestly Bill. It’s any wonder Georgie is misbehaving so much with you as a brother”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Bill asks, stopping in the middle of buttering his bread. Georgie suddenly feels like tonight was about to go very very wrong.

 

Their mother scoffs and begins counting on her fingers  
“It means, that you are a lazy, rude, self-entitled brat who is going to end up on the streets or dead if you don’t adjust your attitude right now and start obeying us”

“I know you're not very good at parenting but generally dogs are the obedient ones. Kids are usually just pains in the ass” Bill snarks.

 

Georgie watched with horror as their father grabs Bill by the wrist, slapping him hard, face red and contorted with anger as he spits angrily  
“You’re mother and I did not have kids just for them to be disrespectful little bastards. Now you best shape up Bill or you are going to be in a world of hurt”

Georgie leaps off the counter, pushing and pulling at his father's’ legs, trying to get him off, Bill  
“Let him go! Dad! Let him go!” He shouts. He barely registers the pain in his own cheek before their father is leaving with their mother again, slamming the door loudly on their way out.

Bill is at his side in an instant and the tears start falling. He had seen his parents slap Bill before, a few times now, but he hadn’t realised just how much it seemed to hurt.

It hurt. His parents had hurt him and he didn’t want to stay anymore. He didn’t want to be hurt again.

“I wanna leave Billy” Georgie cried softly, huddled close to Bill “I don’t want to stay here anymore. I don’t wanna stay with them anymore”

 

Bill runs his hand through Georgie’s hair, soothing his younger brother gently  
“We won’t. I promise. Go upstairs and pack up all your favourite toys into your school bag” He whispers, gentle and caring.

Bill grabs the suitcases, forgotten in the back of his closet and puts them in Silvers trunk. Knocking on Mrs Loyts door loudly, Georgie at his side.

She answers the door solemnly, greeting them with a sad “you're leaving I suppose?”

“How’d you know?” Bill asks as she leads them to the kitchen

“I heard the commotion and your parents leave” she mutters darkly looking at Georgie's red cheek, regarding Bill with a serious look “they ever do that to you, Bill?”  
He looks away, shrugging noncommittally and Mrs Loyts let out a rather not child-friendly word.

 

“I told you to leave Bill, why didn’t you listen?” She sighs, writing down something on a grocery list and handing it to Bill “that Martins address and my number. Wherever you decide to go, Bill, call me when your safe” Bill nods, giving her a quick hug, while Georgie did the same, crying just a little.

Mrs Loyts waved them off, eyes shiny with unshed tears as they tore down the street in Silver. Fast as they could, before their parents could come back and stop them.

 

Bill knew this was probably a horrible idea but they needed to leave. Maybe running away to some town in the middle of nowhere wasn’t a great idea, but right now, it was the easiest escape route they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, be sure to check my tumblr lemon-otterpop for updates as the story continues!


	2. Green plaid pyjamas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and Georgie arrive at Derry and meet Martin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 25/2/19

Georgie had fallen asleep as soon as Bill had crossed the town line, worn out from the emotionally charged day they had. 

 

Bill couldn’t blame him, certain had it not been for the nervous energy buzzing on his system that he would be just as tired but Bill didn’t have the luxury to sleep and was instead left alone with his thoughts. 

The only sound was the soft music coming from the radio and Georgie’s quiet breathing.   
  


He had been going over the idea to run away for months, every pro and con he could think of had been weighed. Bill had always justified staying somehow, even when his mother slapped him or his father refused to let him eat anything substantial for days.    
  


Now that they had actually left, Bill couldn’t help the feelings that swelled up. Anger, resentment and hurt that he had been ignoring for months but the overwhelming sense of relief that hit him once they reached the town line overshadowed all of them. 

 

Bill hadn’t realised just how often he seemed to hold his breath around his parents.    
  


Bill didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings as he drove, focused only on getting to where he needed to go. He tapped unsteady beats against the steering wheel, eyes trained on the road ahead.    
  


He tried to imagine what Martin was like but only seemed to be able to imagine what Mr Loyts had been like before he passed. He kept picturing a sweet old man, who wore a bow tie and beige pants that always had hard candy in the pockets but his gut told him that Martin would not be anything like Mr Loyts.    
  


Georgie huffed in his sleep, rolling over as much as he could in the back seat, his face mushed into the cushion and his arms sticking out from underneath him at an awkward angle. 

 

Bill smiled a little and eyed his phone. They hadn’t been driving long, only about 4 and a half hours and if his GPS was right they’d make it to Derry by 4 AM.   
  


The time passed slowly, Bill not really paying attention the anything other than driving. The tree’s whizzed passed them, blurred into one long brown and green line. At one point Bill almost hit a deer but otherwise, he didn’t notice anything else.   
  


His phone started ringing, the metallic ringtone sounding off loud enough to wake up Georgie and startle Bill out of his daze.    
  


The screen flashed with a picture labelled ‘Mom’ and Bill rolled his eyes, pressing the decline button a little roughly and flicking his phone to silent   
“G-go fuck yourself” he muttered to his phone, looking back at Georgie. He was rubbing his eyes tiredly and his hair was sticking up funny in the back   
  


“Hey Billy,” he said with an easy smile, sitting up properly “what time is it?”   
  


“About 1 AM, how’re you doing?” Bill answered, eyes on Georgie in the rearview mirror. Georgie shrugged, shifting a little in his seat    
  


“My face hurts” he mumbles, touching his cheek lightly. Bill could see why; a bruise was forming on Georgie’s cheek where their father had backhanded him. It didn’t look very pleasant and Bill had a feeling he would have a matching one by the time they got to Derry.   
  


“We’ll be at Derry in a few hours, you can go back to sleep if you want” Bill told him    
  


“Ok Billy” Georgie nodded, laying his head against the window and closing his eyes gently. Not long after Georgie started softly snoring, Bill’s phone rung again. He ignored it completely, not even bothering to hit decline this time. When the buzzing stopped the screen remains dark for a second before lighting up with notifications   
  


‘Missed call from: Mom’   
‘One (1) new voicemail from: Mom’    
  


Bill scoffed and rolled his eyes, tapping at his phone so he could hear the message. At least now he didn’t have to actually talk to her.    
  


“You have one new message,” the mechanical voice said, before playing the message from his mother.    
“I see you’ve taken you’re brother and ran away” she started, sounding just a little drunk 

“your father talked to Mrs Loyts and the bitch just told him to fuck himself” she giggled a little, something falling in the background   
“I just wanted you to know Bill, that if you and your brother ever come back you won’t have a home here. This is the final straw” something crashed and his mother laughed again “you and your brother are officially disowned. Don’t come back. Enjoy your new life as a homeless teenager. You’ll probably regret it”    
  


The message ended and Bill sighed. He had expected something worse, with a little more insults and maybe his father yelling threats in the background but he was glad to know that his parents didn’t care enough to drag them back home. 

Bill tightened his grip on the wheel and kept driving, ignoring the flaring anger in his stomach.    
  
Georgie drifted in and out of sleep, never staying awake for more than a minute at a time. 

When he was awake he’d talk, about little things like balloons or a cartoon Bill hadn’t seen but it helped ease some of the tension Bill felt.    
  


Bill didn’t really notice the time passing, he wasn’t tired, too high strung to even consider sleep and the only thing he was focused on was getting to Derry.    
  


Soon enough the tree’s thinned out and Bill could see the little town getting closer and closer in the distance.    
  


It was 4:02 AM when they passed the welcome to Derry sign, Georgie had woken up a few minutes prior and stayed that way so he could be awake for the arrival. He didn’t talk this time, content with taking in his surroundings.    
  


The town was small, much smaller than the city Bill had just driven away from. You could probably walk from one end to the other in an hour tops. It was quaint, even in the dark.   
  


It was the kind of town where white picket fences could be found, where children played in the street and neighbours had friendly chats with one another simply because they could, not to keep up appearances. It felt like they had stepped directly into the world of an idyllic 1950’s sitcom universe.   
  


the GPS beeped, telling Bill that they had arrived at Martin's home. It was a little house painted white, with a small porch and neatly trimmed lawn. There was a single light on, shining through the window.    
  


“I hope we don’t wake him up” Georgie whispers to Bill as they walk up the pavement to the porch   
  


“D-don’t worry. It’ll be fine” Bill reassures him, though he really had no way of knowing if that was true.   
  


Bill knocked twice on the door. It was also white, with intricate designs etched into the frame. They waited for a moment, before Bill knocked again.   
  


A shuffling sound could be heard as well as low muffled cursing, Georgie tightened his grip on Bill's hand. The door swung open, revealing an old man.   
  


He was in green plaid pyjamas and large black slippers. His eyes were squinty as he looked at them. He wasn’t very tall, though Bill could imagine he was at one point   
  


“Are you M-Martin?” Bill asks    
  


“Yes,” the man nods, eyeing them with curiosity and a hint of suspicion. His voice is deep and a little gravely   
  


“My names B-Bill Denbrough, this is my brother Georgie. Diana Loyts told us you could help us” Martin straightens up at the mention of Mrs Loyts and beckons them inside. 

 

He walks slowly, leading Bill and Georgie through the small house to the kitchen.   
  


“Sit” he orders, pointing to the dining room table. They sit down slowly as he walks over to a landline that was mounted on the wall.    
He punches in a number and waits, Georgie watching him with a slightly awed expression    
  


“Is that a phone?” He whispers to Bill, tugging on his sleeve excitedly    
  


“Yeah, we had one like that at home before you were born” Bill whispers back “it’s called a landline”    
  


“Cool” Georgie decides, grinning widely. 

 

Martin, who hadn’t been looking at them until now smiles a little at Georgie, before whoever he called picked up   
  


“Hello?” A tinny, sleep-addled voice rattles through the receiver and Bill perks up, straining his ears to listen    
  


“Diana, it’s Martin” the sound of covers shifting and a clattering one someone standing up can be heard   
  


“Hello Martin” Mrs Loyts voice is teasing and Martin sighs, as if completely used to this kind of behaviour, Bill hides his laugh behind his hand   
  


“The Denbrough boys are here”   
  


“Big lanky one and a little smiley one?”    
  


“Yes” Martin glances at them, both boys now paying attention to the conversation    
“Wonderful. Put Bill on for me” Martin offers Bill the phone   
  


“Hello?”   
  


“Bill, it’s Mrs Loyts. I’m glad you’re safe, your father came around before” she pauses, searching for the right words, before continuing proudly “very drunk, very angry. I told him to shove off”   
  


“I heard, mom left me a voicemail” Bill replies with amusement and Mrs Loyts sighs   
  


“Martin’s going to help you. I promise everything will be ok” she says and Bill knows that she means it   
  


“Thank you Mrs Loyts,” he says sincerely, fiddling with the cord of the phone    
  


“I love you, Bill. Tell Georgie I love him too” she says and Bill has to swallow the lump in his throat before he replies    
  


“I will”    
  


“I’ll talk to you later”   
  


“Bye Mrs Loyts” Bill hands the phone back to Martin, no longer listening into the conversation as he talks to Georgie quietly instead.   
  


After a few minutes, Martin hangs up, sitting across from them with a solemn expression. He doesn’t speak for a minute, rubbing a hand across his short white beard   
  


“Diana told me what happened with your parents,” he says finally, looking at both Bill and Georgie “I can help”    
Bill nods, waiting for him to continue. Georgie’s hand held tightly in his own under the table   
  


“It won’t be for free but it will be cheap. I can get you both enrolled in school, get people to turn a blind eye to your family situation. I own a granny flat, no ones using it and it’s nothing glamorous but it’ll do you two well. Buy your own groceries and what not but I won’t make you pay rent for the first 9 months or so” Martin pauses, waiting for Bill to process what he had said before continuing 

“I won’t be involved in your lives, you’re free to do whatever you want. I’m just your landlord as far as this arrangement goes. The only thing you’ll owe me is rent in a few months time. You’re free to leave whenever you want”    
  


Bill nods, sitting in a contemplative silence. It was a great deal, he really had no reason to say no but he weighed his options anyway. 

 

Martin seemed genuine in wanting to help them.    
  


After a few moments of silence, Bill speaks    
“Ok. Do we have to sign a contract or something?” Martin huffs, standing up and shuffling towards the front door   
  


“Or something,” he says cryptically over his shoulder, motioning for Bill and Georgie to follow him once more “I take it you’ve been driving for a while”    
  


“Since last night” Bill replies and Martin nods again    
  


“There’s a 24-hour diner down the road, called Jennies, good food and strong coffee. You and your brother should go there while I talk to some people about sorting you two gentlemen out” he says, pulling on a coat over his plaid pyjamas. 

 

Bill refrained from saying anything and elbowed Georgie a little when he started giggling.    
  


Martin took an ivory walking cane off the wall and hobbled down the porch steps, towards a fancy older car that probably cost a good deal more than Bills old ford.    
  


“I’ll see you boys in a few hours,” he says, getting into the driver's seat and closing the door. Bill and Georgie stand in the driveway for a few minutes, watching him leave.   
  


“What now?” Georgie asks, confused. Bill shrugs, he didn’t really know. He did know that the nervous energy that had fuelled him for the drive to Derry was wearing off and that sooner or later he’d need coffee or actual rest   
“Go to that diner I guess” he decides after a moment, leading Georgie back to Silver.    
  


  
It was hard to miss the diner this early in the morning, between the glowing blue neon sign sticking out from the side of the building and the fact to was the only source of light down the whole street made it impossible to overlook.    
  


On the inside, it looked rather typical, black and white checked laminate floor with red booth chairs and stainless steel tables. It was empty aside from the tired looking waitress at the counter and a man in the back of the diner with a book in front of his face.   
  


The waitress straightened up at seeing them, smiling just a little clearly lacking the energy to give them the usual fake smile she would have   
  


“Good morning, how can I help you?” She asks, pulling out a pencil from her messy red bun. Bill smiled at her, hoping it looked polite and looked at the menu board above her head   
“Could I get some pancakes with strawberries and whip cream and one black coffee?” He asks and she writes it down nodding along to his request   
  


“And you?” She asks Georgie, who hummed and shuffled a little bit, embarrassed. Bill looked at the board and knelt down to his height    
“You want pancakes or waffles?” He asks quietly    
“Waffles” Georgie mumbles in his ear. Bill nods at him standing up once more and answering the waitress   
  


“Could he please have waffles with whip cream banana slices and a hot chocolate?” The waitress smiles at him, scribbling it down on her notepad before punching it into the register    
  


“That’ll be $25.30 please,” she says and Bill hands her a $50. After giving him his change she tells them to take a seat and that their order will be ready soon.   
  


The man in the back had put his book down and was now watching the brothers with curiosity, which he seemed to lose after they sat down.    
  


They sat in comfortable silence, Bill’s head resting on the table while Georgie coloured in with the crayons available at the table.    
It wasn’t long before the waitress came to their table with their food, setting it down in front of them. Instead of heading back to the counter though, she turns to Bill with a smile    
  


“You guys new in town?” She asks, spinning her pencil in her hand. Bill nods    
  


“Just arrived” he answers and she bobs her head, extending her hand   
  


“I’m Beverly but you can call be Bev” Bill smiled, taking her hand and shaking it    
  


“I’m Bill, this is G-Georgie,” he says, using his free hand to point to Georgie who waved shyly    
  


“You look pretty young, what are you 18, 19?” Bill shakes his head, laughing quietly as he takes a sip of his coffee    
  


“No, I’m only 17” he answers and Bev’s eyes widen a little but she quickly recovers    
  


“Me too, you still in high school?” She asks and Bill shrugs, not really sure    
  


“Yeah, probably. I’m still figuring it all out” Bev whistles, rocking back on her heels and nods    
  


“Well if you do end up coming to Derry high, I’ll gladly show you around,” she says and Bill nods, smiling a little wider. Before he can reply though, he’s cut off by the man in the back waving Bev down    
  


“Hey Bev, can I get a refill?” He asks, cutting off their conversation as she goes to tend to him.    
  


Bill and Georgie eat, Georgie making a bit of a mess with the whipped cream. Bill watches Bev work as some of the early customers start coming in once the clock hit 5 AM.   
  


She was pretty though Bill couldn’t really describe why. 

 

She was attractive in the physical sense, of course, she had a nice smile and a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks but Bill didn’t think that was why he thought she was pretty. 

It might have been the way she carried herself, sure of herself and friendly. Bill really wasn’t quite sure.   
  


Georgie finished his waffles and started chattering to Bill. He couldn’t quite keep up with the conversation but nodded along to his brothers’ words anyway as people filtered in and out of the diner.   
  


Another waitress showed up around 5:30 and greeted Beverly with a smile, tying her own apron clumsily and manning the counter, Bev disappeared into the back room.    
  


At 5:45, Bev came back out and started wiping down tables. The man in the back left, waving goodbye to Beverly.    
  


At 6 AM, another waitress arrived and Bev left, walking past Bill and Georgie’s table, giving them a small wave on her way out.    
  


At 6:30, Bill ordered a refill of his coffee and Georgie an orange juice. He found out that the waitress who came in last was named Audra.    
  


At 7:15, Martin walked through the doors of the diner, still in his coat and plaid pyjamas. No one seemed to question it, so Bill figured it must be a regular thing for Martin to walk around town in his pyjamas. That or everyone in the town was completely oblivious.    
  


Martin slid into the booth next to Bill, Audra bringing him a coffee barely a moment later before she shuffled away to take care of some other tables.    
  


He smiled at Bill, grunting quietly as he twisted to be able to address both of them at the same time   
  


“It’s all been taken care of,” he says and Bill thinks it sounds like Martin was a hit man from a cheesy action movie. Martin slides a little white envelope over to Bill   
“The keys to the top Granny flat. There’s a shed in the back, keys should be on there too, there’s some old furniture in there, couches and whatnot. Stuff my old residents didn’t take with them. Take what you want” he taps the front of the envelope “that’s the address”    
  


With that, Martin stands up, downing his coffee in one go and leaves. Bill stares after him for a moment before slowly starting to laugh at the pure weirdness of that encounter. 

 

Georgie laughs along with him, though Bill doesn’t think he knows why.    
  


Bill leads Georgie out of the diner a few minutes later, after Audra cleared their table and they exchanged pleasantries, Bill leaving her a nice tip.    
Bill puts the address into his GPS and begins driving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you’re having a radical day. 
> 
> Check out my tumblr lemon-otterpop to get updates on the progress of this story as it continues!


	3. home sweet home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Georgie & Bill see their new home for the first time, also grocery shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a shorter chapter this time, a little bit of a filler so i tried to make it cute.
> 
> Revised 25/2/19

The drive was short, everything in Derry was close together. 

 

It was different from the city. In the city, even if it was close by, it would be hard to find. Usually crammed in some nook hidden away but Derry was open, even the smaller business were clearly visible without a sign.    
  


The street the house was on looked to be what Bills parents would describe as lower middle class. The yards were slightly unkempt and the houses all looked like they had been built a good few decades ago. One of the houses had it’s fence pushed over and a tricycle rusting on the front lawn.   
  


Their house was on the end, it was painted what might of once been sky blue but was now chipped and greyed from the weather.   
  


Bill liked the house, from what he could see. It wasn’t a granny flat like Martin had said, it was bigger than that, about the size of a regular house, maybe a little bit smaller.   
  


The front door was white with a small glass pain right in the middle, that had a note taped to it.   
  


“Dear Mr Denbrough, this is your house. Sheds out the back, my number is on the fridge. You might need to dust some things.    
Sincerely, Martin” Bill read out loud and Georgie laughed, bouncing excitedly holding onto Bill’s arm    
  


“C’mon, open it. I wanna see what it looks like” he urged, shaking Bill a little every time he jumped. Bill laughed at his brother, fumbling with the keys using his available hand to open the door.   
  


Georgie shot ahead of him, running around to explore their new home. It wasn’t by any means large but they didn’t need it to be.    
  


The living room, kitchen and dining room were all in the same area, the living room separated by an archway, there was a hallway that led to the bathroom, two bedrooms and a staircase that Bill was pretty sure led to the attic.    
  


Martin’s number, as well as Mrs Loyts, was pinned onto the fridge with a magnet, next to a written up grocery list of all the things they’d need and where to find them, a wad of cash left on the counter beside what looked like a contract.   
  


Bill skimmed over it, resolving to actually read it later on. He wandered around the house for a little, letting Georgie pick a room and getting their suitcases from the car. He’d put those away later too.    
  


“Georgie, let’s go look at the shed” Bill called, as Georgie jumped around his new empty room.    
  


True to Martin’s word, the shed contained all the furniture the previous residents of the house simply hadn’t taken with them. It was all in surprisingly good condition if a little bit dusty.    
  


There was a small laminate table with 4 chairs to match, an ugly green couch and blue armchair, an old woodbox TV and a few different coffee tables and bed frames. There was one old lamp as well.   
  


Bill moved most of the furniture, Georgie helping as best he could. It was a slow going process but eventually, Bill had an almost completely furnished house. By about 2 PM Georgie was hungry and Bill was tired of moving furniture, so he took the grocery list off the fridge and they went back to the diner for lunch.   
  
This time their waitress was a woman named Kay, who snarked the other customers when she didn’t think anyone was listening.    
  


Kay gave Georgie extra whipped cream in his hot chocolate because she thought he was adorable and she gave Bill the directions to the grocery store.   
  


Bill usually went grocery shopping with Mrs Loyts, she’d need someone to help her carry things, so he knew what he was doing at least. 

 

Georgie had complained about it, he didn’t like grocery shopping, as most 6-year-olds didn’t but Bill let him sit in the cart and Georgie pretended they were on an adventure.   
  


Seeing as Bill didn’t know where anything was, Georgie’s narrative of them being lost in the jungle while looking for mysterious objects had seemed pretty accurate.    
  


Georgie shouted dramatically everytime they managed to find what they were looking for, which earned them a few odd looks from passing customers.    
  


Bill pushed the cart down the aisles, scanning the shelves for what they needed while Georgie narrated, pretending to hold some sort of weapon   
  


“You gotta watch out for tigers,” he said very seriously, as he pointed his finger gun at random places with suspicious eyes.    
  


“Of course Georgie” Bill nodded, equally as serious, stopping in front of the soups “do you want chicken soup or tomato or something else?”    
  


“Chicken” Georgie chirped and Bill grabbed the correct cans. 

 

They had almost finished their shopping, everything on the list plus a little extra. With Derry being so small, it was easy to find what they needed quickly.   
  


Food shopping was taking up the least amount of time and bored Georgie the most. 

At least while they were looking at pots and pans in the Kmart Georgie was allowed to run around the toy section but in the grocery store, he had to stay close to Bill. 

 

He was doing a fine job of keeping himself entertained but sooner rather than later, that would start to bore him too, so Bill went through his list as quickly as possible.    
True to Bills expectation, Georgie got impatient while they waited in the checkout, kicking the sides of the cart from his spot inside and wriggling around as much as it would allow.    
  


A mother had given Bill a dirty look when he didn’t do anything about Georgie’s behaviour. He had flipped her off once she turned around, to the amusement of the cashier.    
  


Once they finally arrived back, Georgie bolted to his room excited to finish setting it up with all his new toys and bed sheets. Bill got to work unpacking all of the shopping, finding homes for the various appliances he had bought.    
  


The money Martin had left covered most of it. Bill wondered what the hell it was he did for a living that allowed him to give two random kids a couple thousand in cash and a house rent-free for more than half a year. 

 

He didn’t dwell on it though because Georgie came out from his apparently perfected room and asked for food.    
  


Bill made sandwiches for dinner, too tired to actually cook. Georgie hadn’t minded, eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he chattered on about how awesome his room looked and that Bills room was going to look so lame compared to his.    
  


It was a completely different atmosphere to what Bill was used to, dinner had never been a nice occurrence with their parents. 

 

You didn’t sit close to one another in the Denbrough house and you weren’t supposed to talk at the table so their meals had always been stiff and awkward, filled only with the sound of cutlery and their fathers’ annoyingly loud chewing. 

 

It had not helped, that the Denbrough children always had an unsettling feeling of dread whenever in such close proximity to their parents.   
  


Now though, Bill and Georgie were sat so close together their knees were touching, huddled around the small dining table they found in the shed, Georgie talking while Bill listened, both boys completely at ease.   
  


In that instance, Bill knew that he had made the right choice, even if it was the complicated one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope your enjoying this story!
> 
> As always, please check my tumblr lemon-otterpop for updates on this stories progression!


	4. School daze blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 25/2/19

The days passed both mind-numbingly slow and far too quickly for Bill’s liking. In what barley seemed like an afternoon, Martin had both Georgie and himself enrolled in the public schools no questions asked and Bill a selection of part-time work to choose from.    
  


It all seemed to happen much to fast, Bill barley having any time to process it between keeping Georgie entertained and getting them both ready for the upcoming school year.    
  


After that, the days flew by rapidly and sooner rather than later, Bill was being woken up by his alarm clock at 6 AM to get ready for his first day of high school.    
  


Bill was tempted to simply hit snooze and keep sleeping and had it not been for his little brother launching himself onto Bill’s bed at full speed, he would of.   
  


“fucking hell G-Georgie” Bill groaned into his pillow as he pushed his brother off his back, who responded by laughing rather loudly and pawing at Bills face    
  


“C’mon Billy! It’s our first day and I want first day pancakes” he says, poking Bill’s cheek. Bill sits up mock glaring at him, poking him back in the side, eliciting a giggle from Georgie    
  


“Go wait in the kitchen you gremlin,” he says and Georgie leaps off the bed running down the hall to the kitchen. Bill sighs, pushing himself up and groaning.    
  
Unlike Georgie, Bill was not excited for his first day of school.    
Not because of anything in particular, he usually just found the whole thing boring. 

 

At his old school he had no friends aside from Tommy Shaw, a pothead who would regularly pay Bill to write his essays for him and Bill wouldn’t exactly call sitting with Tommy under the bleachers while he did things that could get him expelled and Tommy smoked a friendship, they never spoke unless Tommy wanted to tell him something inane and useless that made no sense.    
  


He didn’t get bullied very much, most of those who would bully him relying on him for an A grade in English. 

 

There were some people who did, rude girls and asshole boys who would jeer at him in the halls and whisper about him when they thought he couldn’t hear, nothing he couldn’t handle, nothing he hadn’t heard before.   
  


Teachers tended to get on his nerves, harping on him to do better and achieve more. Bill had always strived to be below average, at first to get his parents attention and then to simply annoy them with their inability to brag about his perfect grades at their dinner parties and his teachers had never seemed to like that.    
  


Not that he blamed them, he was making their job harder than it needed to be on purpose, he’d probably hate him too.   
  


So Bill had never found anything particularly enjoyable about school and he doubted he would find anything particularly enjoyable about his new one.    
  
He got dressed slowly into the first outfit he found, old jeans a plain grey shirt and a dark blue button up over it, before walking to the kitchen, combing his hair with his fingers and stretching.   
  


Georgie was sitting at the kitchen table, colouring in his book and waiting for Bill to make him some pancakes. His tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth a little in concentration. Bill laughed, ruffling his hair as he retrieved to ingredients and utensils    
  


“Alright Georgie, you want chocolate chip or blueberry?” He asked and Georgie grinned.    
  
an hour and a half, 4 burnt pancakes and an entire can of whip cream later, breakfast was finished.    
  


Georgie raced around the house getting ready, taking care in picking the nicest clothes he could wear to school and his brand new sneakers. Bill tied the bright yellow laces for him while he buttoned up his shirt.    
  


Georgie had refused to get a new backpack when Bill offered, happier with his faded yellow one with a lion on the pocket that he had been using since preschool.    
  


Bill took the time to double check his book bag and print off his schedule, curling his lip a little at the amount of AP classes he had somehow been placed in. He had a feeling Martin had something to do with that.    
  
At 7:45, Bill ushered Georgie into the car as quickly as he could, mindful of the fact he was probably going to be late for his first day   
  


“You know where to go once you get to school?” He asks over his shoulder to Georgie who was happily staring out the window in the backseat    
  


“Mmhmm” he hums, watching the other cars on the road with rapt attention   
  


“Can you tell me where you have to go?” Bill asked, Georgie, turning his head to look at Bill in the rearview mirror    
  


“I have to go to the assembly hall for the before school program” Georgie recites sarcastically and Bill bites back a laugh. He had been forcing Georgie to tell him all morning and it was more than obvious his brother was over it.    
  


“Ok good, we’re here,” he says, pulling into a parking spot and turning his body to face Georgie    
  


“Good luck, don’t swear in front of the teacher and if anyone asks we live with our grandparents,” Bill says to a grinning Georgie “I’ll be here to pick you up at 3 on the dot, promise”     
  


“Ok, bye Billy,” Georgie says waving his hand a little as he gets out of the car “good luck at high school,” he says before disappearing beyond the school gates.   
  
Bill pulls out of the car park to the elementary school a few minutes later, after making sure Georgie was inside the building he was supposed to be in.    
  


The drive to the high school is short but Bill is late anyway. He doesn’t make much of an effort to get there on time. He figures he can just blame it on being new and getting lost. The school isn’t that big but he supposed it could work for a few days at least.    
  


He had English first in F15, an upstairs class. The school's layout was pretty basic as well, 3 levels, 2 wings, a football field by the car park and an auditorium hidden behind the school.     
  


Between driving to the school, parking, going through the administrative office and getting to class he managed to arrive maybe 10 minutes after homeroom ended.     
  


The door was painted an ugly green colour and the plate with the room number had been graffitied on. The class inside was reading silently, the teacher up the front at her desk marking things.    
  


Bill knocked.    
  


Immediately, everyone’s heads swivel around to look at him, some bored, some curious. Bill walks into the room, trying to appear relaxed despite the unease he was feeling as he approaches the teacher    
  


“Hi, I’m Bill. I’m the new student” murmurs start as the teacher looks at him. Bill couldn’t hear them, but he suspected they all consisted of the words new kid and what. 

 

The teacher nodded standing up, guiding him to the front of the class    
  


“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Bill Denbrough. Tell us a little bit about yourself Mr Denbrough” he says and Bill curses her in his mind, he had been hoping to avoid this.   
  


“I j-just moved here with my little brother” he starts, mentally berating himself for his stutter “I’m 17 and my favourite colour is blue. Where do I sit?” He rushes through it, hoping it’s enough to satisfy the teacher and he’ll be allowed to sit down. He nods, slightly amused at the lack of real information. He gestures to the empty seat beside a short boy in a polo shirt sitting in the corner     
  


“Take a seat, Eddie can catch you up. I’ll just step out for a minute to grab you a novel. Mike, you’re in charge” he says, pointing to a black boy in the opposite corner of Eddie. 

 

The kid mock salutes, returning to his novel and Bill sets next to the short boy, who smiles at him.   
  


“Hey” Bill says, smiling in an attempt to look friendly, though he’s almost sure it looks more like a grimace than a smile. The kid doesn’t seem to take any offence    
  


“Hey. I’m Eddie, that was Mr Fletcher” he says, pointing to the door the teacher had just walked out of “you haven’t missed much, just a couple of worksheets that you don’t really need. I can show you if you want?”    
Bill shakes his head “no it’s fine, what book are we reading?”    
  


“Helen Keller’s teacher. Mr Fletcher is hoping it will give us more insight on how hard it is to learn with disabilities and the impacts it has on daily life” Eddie explains, showing Bill the cover of the worn out copy “It’s a short book so we’re all reading at our own pace for the next few lessons. Most people are only in the first few chapters so it won’t be hard to catch up”   
  


Bill nods and Eddie turns back to reading. Bill opens his notebook, scribbling little drawings in the margins as he looked around the classroom.   
Most of the students had resumed what they were doing before he walked in, some had their phones out poorly concealed by the book they weren’t actually reading, some were actually reading and one boy had his earphones in and head on the desk, dark curls spilling over his arms and covering his face. Everything was pretty typical. Had it not been for the unfamiliar faces, Bill would think he was back at his old school.    
  


Mr Fletcher comes back in with another copy of the book right at Bill finishes drawing a little bird in the corner of his page. He sets it in front of Bill and returns to his marking.    
  


Bill does not start to read it, even if he should. He keeps doodling in the margins of his notebook, pausing every few moments to write something down.   
  


If you were to look at it, it would be disjointed and confusing but Bill understood it and that was all that mattered. It was a beginning.    
  
He bounced from class to class, Eddie was in most of them. He gave a little introduction in each class at the teachers' insistence and he stuttered every time.   
  


Eddie thankfully did not seem to mind that Bill sat next to him in all of the classes they shared together, in fact, he seemed pleased. Probably because from what Bill could tell he didn’t have any friends.    
  


Chemistry was the first class Bill had without Eddie, the class before lunch started. The teacher was a balding man with a beer gut named Mr Gallagher, he was also the first teacher not to make Bill introduce himself. Mr Gallagher had given Bill a worksheet and textbook, told him to sit down at a free bench and not speak, then proceeded to leave the room and not come back.    
  


Naturally, the entire class was talking. Bill had completed the worksheet and out of complete boredom read through a few extra pages of the textbook.    
  


He recognised a few of the faces in his class now, the sleeping boy from English was one of the most noticeable.   
  


The boy had come into class late, grinned at the kid he sat next to and proceeded to make as much noise as he possibly could. He was tall and lanky, his eyes framed by thick black glasses, he did dumb accents as he read the textbook out loud and flirted with the brunette girl sitting in front of him. The kid sitting next to him looked annoyed, but fondly so.    
  


The boy whipped his head around to look at Bill suddenly, probably realising Bill was staring at him and grinned, scooching his chair across the floor loudly and holding a hand out for Bill to shake, brunette girl forgotten.   
  


“Hey there hot stuff. The names Richie, it’s a pleasure. Now see I ain’t seen you around here before, you must be the new kid from English good old birdie boy told me about” he says in some hybrid of a British and New Jersey accent, jabbing his thumb at his mortified friend. Bill laughed, shaking Richie’s hand    
  


“Y-yeah. I’m Bill” Richie hums, rocking on his chair. Behind him, his friend let his head thump against the table   
  


“Well Big Bill, you made any friends yet?” Richie asks. Bill nods, though he isn’t sure he’d count Eddie as a friend just yet   
“Yeah, a kid named Eddie”   
  


“Kaspbrak?” Richie asks, stopping his rocking to look at Bill with a mischievous smile as Bill nods again. Richie’s friend comes over to them, knocking Richie in the back of the head with a sigh   
  


“Don’t start Rich” he mumbles, turning to Bill and holding out his hand “I’m Stan. Whatever this idiot is about to say, don’t agree to it” Bill laughs a little. Stan had curly hair too, lighter than Richie’s, somehow it looked neater. Possibly because it was cut shorter than Richie’s.    
  


“I’ll take that into c-consideration,” Bill says, offering Stan a small smile. Richie whines, smacking Stan in the arm    
  


“I was only going to ask if Bill and Eddie would like to sit with us at lunch” Stan gave Richie a look and Bill was a little confused. Stan seemed to notice, turning away from Richie to talk to him once more   
  


“Richie and Eddie are neighbours, Richie’s made it his personal mission to see what it will take to get Eddie to punch him in the face” he explains and Richie shrugs, pushing his glasses back up his nose    
  


“I just want to see how much it would hurt. He’s tiny but I’ve got the feeling he’s a feisty one” Richie wiggles his eyebrows and Stan makes a disgusted noise. Bill watches in amusement   
  


“I’ll ask him if he wants to sit with you guys,” he says and Richie seems pleased. Stan levels him with the most deadpan stare Bill has seen in a while and Bill shrugs. At the very least it would be an interesting show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope your having a radical day and enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Check out my tumblr lemon-otterpop for updates on the stories progression!


	5. And so it begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The losers meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 25/2/19

Eddie is waiting for him by the water fountain when he gets out of chemistry, bored and fiddling with the zipper of his jacket. Bill walks up to him with a grin, Eddie smiling a little    
  


“How was chemistry?” He asks, sounding genuinely interested rather than just trying to make conversation.   
  


Bill shrugged, it had not been a particularly interesting lesson before Richie had decided to bug him   
  


“It was alright, teacher left for most of the lesson” he answers, leaning against the wall   
  


“you have Gallagher right?” Eddie asks   
  


“Yeah”   
  


“i had him freshman year, he mostly just gave us worksheets and left, one time he left some of the stupider kids decided to set each other on fire. It got so out of hand that a kid ended up in the hospital and the school had to be evacuated” Eddie says and Bill wants to laugh but it doesn’t feel like an appropriate reaction to that story. 

 

“Jesus Christ” Bill opted to say instead. Eddie grinned at him as he lead them through the school almost aimlessly.    
  


“Do you know a kid named Richie Tozier?” Bill asks after a few beats if silence, Eddie suddenly coming to a halt and Bill smacking right into his back. 

It reminded Bill of the cartoon he and Georgie had watched that morning, when one character stopped and they all crashed like dominos onto the ground.

 

“He’s my neighbour” Eddie says after a moment of trying to figure out what Bill was about to do “why?”   
  


“He was talking to me in chemistry, him and his friend Stan” Bill explains “he invited me to sit with them and lunch and told me to ask you too”   
  


“Oh” Eddie mumbles, his ears tinged pink as he took in the information. When he doesn’t answer, Bill decides to ask more directly    
  


“So do you want to sit with them? Stan said they sit in the courtyard behind the auditorium” Eddie looks at Bill, almost like a deer caught in headlights he doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, deliberating in his head    
  


“Yeah, ok” he says, then pokes Bill in the shoulder “if this is a horrible experience I’m holding you accountable”   
  


“That’s fine”    
  
Richie and Stan are already seated at the old wooden table when Bill and Eddie arrive, which is not surprising. Richie has a cigarette stuck up his nose and Stan his shaking his head with distaste, though he is laughing a little at the stupid look on Richie’s face.   
  


Eddie’s nose wrinkles a little, though Bill can’t tell if it’s disgust or amusement. Maybe both. Bill himself thinks Richie looks ridiculous and is very entertained by it.   
  


“You l-look like an idiot” he says, taking a seat beside Stan, across from Richie.   
  


“Good” Richie grins, Eddie sitting beside him. Richie’s grin widens and he throws an arm around Eddie, who looked like he completely expected it 

 

“Hey there Eddie Spaghetti” Richie says cheerily    
  


“Don’t call me that” Eddie says with a scoff, half-heartedly shoving Richie’s arm off his shoulder, though it’s back around him in a second, Richie’s free hand is used to pinch Eddie’s cheek and steer his face towards Bill and Stan    
  


“Isn’t he cute Stanny boy?” Richie grins, dodging the elbow Eddie sends to his side    
  


“Adorable” Stan says dryly, picking at his blueberry muffin. Bill snorts.

They continue on like that for a while. Richie antagonising Eddie with a grin, Eddie shooting back rapid fire quips while Bill and Stan watched, occasionally speaking quietly to each other and eating their lunch.   
  


Eddie and Richie’s banter tapers off after maybe 5 minutes, right in time for a girl to hurtle herself over the chain link fence behind them with a loud shout of laughter, drawing all four boys attention to her.     
  


The girl stands there with a grin when she sees them and it takes Bills brain a second to realise that it was Beverly, the waitress from his first day in town. He vaguely recalls something she had said about Derry High and a tour.    
  


Beverly walks up to them with a bit of a skip in her step, grinning from ear to ear. She still held herself in a way that Bill thought made her look astounding.    
  


“Good afternoon Miss Marsh” Richie greets with an enthusiastic but terrible British accent, returning her grin with his own equally as bright one

 

“Hey trashmouth” she greets, sliding up next to him on the wooden bench, looking at Bill with interest.   
  


“I didn’t know you’d started school,” she says and Bill shrugs    
  


“First day”   
  


“And you're already hanging out with Tozier? Brave soul” she says with a wink. Richie whistles loudly, turning to Bill   
  


“You already met Molly Ringwald over here?” He asks, jabbing a thumb over to Bev, who flips him off    
  


“Yeah, my first day in town” Bill answers. Richie hums, bouncing a little in his seat as he turns his full attention back to Bev    
  


“So Beverly, darling, why the fuck was you jumping the fence into this here courtyard like a madman?” He asks, with a bad Scottish accent. Bev shrugs, laughing a little and running a hand through her hair. It was a lot shorter than when Bill first met her.   
  


“I was gonna leave to buy some lunch but Auden saw me and I had to book it so I didn’t get caught” she says and looks at Stan and his muffin pointedly 

“I still don’t know how you manage to sneak in and out of school without getting caught to get those stupid muffins” she grumbles and Stan shrugs, small smile dancing across his face and amusement in his eyes. Bill decides that he likes it when Stan smiles, it’s almost like he has a contagious good mood.    
  


“So Bev, where’s haystack?” Richie asks, making Bev smile. Small and bashful, not the kind of smile you would expect to see on someone like Beverly’s face   
  


“He’s getting me lunch since I almost got caught sneaking out and he didn’t”   
  


“Brave man” Richie concludes and Bev nods, both of their faces a mocking kind of solemn. Bill doesn’t ask who haystack is, he assumes that he’ll find out sooner or later.    
  


Just as Bill finished thinking that, two boys come around the corner chatting.   
One of them was the kid Mr Fletcher had left in charge, Mike. The other was a slightly larger boy, fairly tall with a sweet smile and kind eyes, holding a brown paper bag of what Bill assumed was not cafeteria food. Haystack, Bill realises.   
  


The pair approach the wooden table, Mike greeting them with a small smile and a nod.   
  


Haystack hands Beverly the paper bag and she happily digs out her lunch   
“Thanks, Ben. You’re the best” she says, smiling at him. Ben smiles back, cheeks a little red. Richie grins at Stan, suggestive and knowing.    
  


“You’re Bill right? You just moved here?” Ben asks, turning his attention to Bill, who chokes a little on the food he was eating in surprise. Richie and Bev laugh at him.   
  


“Yeah. I am” Bill says a moment later, once he had finished sputtering   
“That’s cool. Why’d you move?” Ben asks. Bill blinks at him, he doesn’t want to answer that question.   
  


“D-Doesn’t matter,” he says, after a moment of an expectant silence. No one calls him on it.   
  


“Are you guys gonna sit down or just stand there all day?” Richie asks, gesturing to Mike and Ben. They both looked a little taken back.   
  


“What?”    
  


“Are you gonna sit?” Richie repeats, slower with more deliberate hand movements between them and the table    
  


“There’s no room” Mike says. He was right, Beverly barley fit on the end of the bench as it was, two more people wouldn’t fit.   
  


Richie jumps up gangly legs catching a little as he smirks at them determined, practically skipping across the courtyard and dragging one of the two other wooden tables over to them with a loud screech    
  


“Now there’s room,” he said proudly, claiming his seat once more.   
Mike looked amused, sitting down on the newly brought over table and pulling out his lunch from his backpack. Ben sits too, after a minute of stunned silence.   
  


Bev slides next to Ben, giving Richie and Eddie more space. Richie grins at Stan again.   
  
The conversation comes easy, jokes and small arguments. 

 

Mike and Richie argue about football. Mike, Bill learns, plays for the school team. Richie, Bill also learns, hates high school football with a passion that would make one think it killed his entire family.    
  


Stan had thumped his head against the table with an exaggerated groan when the argument started but he watched on in amusement anyway.   
  


Bill actually learnt a lot about the classmates he was sitting within the 30 minutes they had for lunch. Ben was on the track team and the coach was an asshole, he also worked as a volunteer at the library with Mike. Ben had moved here last year.    
  


Eddie wanted to be on the track team but his mother wouldn’t let him. His mother wouldn’t let him do any extracurriculars. He also had asthma.   
  


Richie did theatre and got straight A’s but he also had about 17 detentions racked up within the first 7 days of school. Somehow, that didn’t surprise Bill at all.   
  


Stan joined the chess team in freshman year and but he only kept going out of habit rather than actually liking chess. Somehow, that didn’t surprise Bill either. He was also Jewish, Bill learnt  after Richie made a joke about it.    
  


Bev had a boyfriend, that was not Ben to Bills confusion. His name was Tom and he was a senior who drove a red Audi. Bev didn’t have any clubs but she liked sewing and was in Bills elective art class. Bev was also in their English class but had skipped that day to smoke under the bleachers.   
  


Mike was in yearbook and on the football team. He volunteered at the library, lived on a farm next to the lighthouse and when he was 8 he took part in a scavenger hunt and won a plastic medal that said “#1 detective” that he still had hung up in his room.    
  


He learnt a lot, nothing deep or meaningful, but it was more than he could say he knew about his old classmates. He hadn’t even known what year Tommy Shaw had been in and he had spent most of his highschool life in the stoners presence.   
  


To his own surprise, he learnt that he liked talking to them.    
  


Everything felt natural like they had been talking to each other for more than the few collective hours they had all known Bill.    
  


It was different but he couldn’t say he minded different all that much.    
  
lunch ended and school went on, the teachers continued to make Bill introduce himself to the class and everytime he still stuttered just enough for it to be obvious. 

 

This time though, Richie was there and heckled him from the back row, calling him hot stuff paired with a tasteless your mom joke that had the teacher giving him detention with a pointed sigh.    
  


This time Bill had sat between Eddie and Stan, Stan having pushed Richie off the chair and made him sit on Eddie’s other side. This time Bev was in front of him, laughing to herself while Ben and Mike were beside her.    
  


It wasn’t what usually happened when Bill went to school. Usually he would sit in the back, talk to the kids who wanted to pay him to do their homework and otherwise keep to himself. Bill decided that he liked it better this way.    
  
He picked up Georgie at 3 on the dot as promised. He had ditched the last 10 minutes of last period to do it, much to Beverly and Richie’s apparent glee.   
  


Georgie appeared happy enough when he climbed into the car, a new scrape on his cheek and superhero bandaid on his elbow. He talked animatedly about his day, throwing his hands around with a wide smile    
  


“Miss Kelsey is super nice! She gave me this bandaid when I fell over at recess cause I was bleeding and stuff” he said, pointing to the bandaid proudly. It was one of the flimsy plastic ones you can tear in half really easy.    
  


“Did you make any new friends?” Bill asked and Georgie perked up even more   
  


“Yeah! Chloe and Ty and Gia” he says, kicking his feet “Ty has blue glasses and they’re super cool and Gia’s real name is Georgia but she doesn’t like it. Chloe let me use her colours during free time”   
  


“That’s nice” Bill said. His mind wandering from Georgie as he rambled on about his day.  He picked up little bits of it, Chloe had brown hair, Gia‘s favourite colour was purple, Ty had a cool backpack, Miss Kelsey taught them big numbers.    
  


Bill thought about his own day. It had been different, definitely the good kind of different. He had made friends, the teachers did not watch him with pity and exasperation, no one was whispering about him in the hallways. All things that had not happened since middle school before today.    
  
In no time at all, they had made it back to the house and Georgie was racing inside so he could colour in. Bill smiled softly at his brother as he spilled the coloured pencils across the dining table.   
  


He sat down across from Georgie, deciding that now was as good a time as any to catch up on the reading for English.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for reading and I hope you have a radical day!
> 
> Check out lemon-otterpop on tumblr for updates on the stories progression


	6. Lunchables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunchtime with the gang. 
> 
> A brief look at Stans point of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 25/2/19

Stan wasn’t an uptight person, not really. He was just uncomfortable a lot of the time and his awkwardness tended to translate into rigidity which made it hard for people to enjoy his company. With the exception of Richie of course, he always seemed to enjoy hanging out with Stan.    
  


Then Bill Denbrough showed up with his stutter and suddenly Stan had been flung head first into making 5 new friends.

 

It wasn’t entirely Bills fault, nor was it entirely unwelcome. Stan had already known most of them. He had class with all of them, they had all lived in the town their entire lives but they never interacted much until Bill showed up.

 

They all had their own things, Bev usually went off with Tom and his shiny red Audi, Mike sat with the other footballers or alone, Stan had never even seen Eddie at lunch before and Ben went to the library. He and Richie always sat in the courtyard away from everyone else.

 

After Bill arrived though, Bev tended to stick around to talk to him which brought Ben. Mike seemed to enjoy hanging out with Bill which brought him along. Eddie seemed to have gravitated towards Bill as well and anything that brought Eddie would bring Richie as well. This meant that before Stan could blink, he had accidentally made himself a nice group of friends that despite himself and his rigid awkwardness, he didn’t seem to mind.    
  
  


Stan walked beside Richie on their way to lunch. He was telling Stan about his latest dumb plan to get Eddie to punch him. From what Stan could tell it involved a lot of glitter glue and a bucket of feathers but he wasn’t paying very much attention at this point.    
  


They rounded the corner, where Bev and Ben were chatting. It looked an awful lot like flirting but Stan wasn’t going to say anything. Richie nudged him with a sly smile and wriggled his eyebrows. 

Stan rolled his eyes, sitting in Richie’s usual spot beside Bev.   
  


“Stanley, you’re in my spot,” Richie says, poking him. Stan shrugged, eyes focused on Bill as he arrived with everyone’s lunches and Eddie beside him.

 

“So?” He says, raising an eyebrow. Richie made an exaggerated offended noise   
  


“I have never been so insulted,” he says, pinching Stans side in an effort to get him to sit somewhere else. Stan rolled his eyes at his friend   
  


“You don’t listen much do you?” He says and Eddie giggles as he sits down beside Stan. Richie lets it drop, now more focused on Eddie as he sits beside him.   
Bill sits next to Mike, who was reading a history textbook and chewing absently on his highlighter    
  


“Are you studying?” Bill asked, amused.   
  


“It’s more of a personal project” Mike replies with a grin “some of us actually like history”   
  


“I don’t dislike it, it's just not my favourite” Bill defends, brushing a hand through his hair   
  


“History sucks,” Bev says, earning an offended look from Ben and Mike   
  


“You just don’t like Mr Harris” Eddie points out. Stan isn’t paying a lot of attention to the conversation, his attention focused on Bill's hair that had been strewn just slightly out of place. It looked good.   
  


“Because Mr Harris sucks,” Bev says, taking her lunch from Bill as he nods in agreement.    
  


“Yeah, I’ve only had him for a few weeks and I would rather jump in front of a train then hold a conversation with him longer than I need to”    
  


“That’s a bit harsh,” Ben says, taking his own lunch and handing Bill a $10 note   
  


“I thought you didn’t like him either”   
  


“I don’t”   
Stan is snapped out of his daze by Richie placing his lunch in front of him. Stan reaches for his wallet to pay Bill back   
  


“What are we talking about?” He asks, handing Bill the money   
  


“How everyone hates Mr Harris”   
  


“Yeah he sucks” Richie agrees “he failed me because he didn’t like the way I worded something in my essay last year”   
  


“You had him last year?” Ben asks, wincing in sympathy    
  


“No, he was just marking the essays,” Richie says, shovelling his food into his mouth quickly. Eddie pulls a face from beside him   
  


“Hating the teacher doesn’t mean the subjects bad,” Mike says indignant, closing his textbook and picking up his own lunch   
  


“Says you homeschool, didn’t your daddy use to be your teacher until high school?” Richie says with his mouth full. Eddie shoves him in the side.   
  


“First of all, never call my dad daddy again. Second of all, yes” Mike says, a vague look of disgust on his face that made Stan laugh quietly to himself    
  


“I rest my case,” Richie says, sitting back and crossing his arms, apparently deciding that he had won the argument    
  


“What case? That doesn’t make any sense Richie” Eddie says “and Jesus Christ, close your mouth when you chew. That is so disgusting”   
Richie responds by opening his mouth wider and chewing right in Eddie’s face.    
  


Stan shakes his head, turning his focus to something else. Which just happens to be Bill.   
He isn’t eating, just pushing his food around his plate and occasionally looking up to catch up with the conversation. He looks tired.    
  


“Are you ok?” Stan asks quietly, while the others argue about Richie and if he had a case. Bill looks surprised. He always looks surprised when someone talks to him.   
  


“Y-yeah. The past few weeks are just catching up with me you know?”    
Stan didn’t know actually but Bill didn’t look like he wanted to elaborate so he nodded in agreement decided to change the subject   
  


“Did you get the job at Harvey’s?” Bill perked up a little, smiling again   
  


“Yeah, yeah I did. I start next week”   
  


“Do you work every day?”   
  


“Yeah, except for Sunday’s cause it’s closed and I only have a half shift on Mondays”    
  


“That's good”    
Bill smiled, bright and endearingly proud of himself.    
  


He had only been at the school for a few weeks and he’d only been in town a little while longer according to Bev but he didn’t waste any time getting his life in some semblance of order.    
  


Bill ran his hand through his hair again, joining back into the conversation with the group. It had moved on from Richie’s case to homework Anderson had set.   
  


He still looked tired but at least now he looked at ease.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very sorry for how long this chapter took to get out, I hope you have a wonderful holidays. 
> 
> Redamancy will be of a brief hiatus while I spend the rest of my holidays with my family and get back into the swing of school.


	7. Working Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning : depictions of abuse

Bill didn’t realise how much time he spent avoiding home. Really he hadn’t thought much about how late he tended to stay out or how far away he always went until he didn’t have to do those things to feel ok anymore.  
  
Adjusting to a new home and a new normal had been difficult but not as difficult as the realisation that he wasn’t holding his breath every time he entered a room anymore. He had known that he hadn’t liked his parents for years now but figuring out that he had been scared of them was a whole new ball park. A whole new tiring ballpark.  
  
Georgie had been having nightmares, something about clowns and sewers and red balloons that Bill had only been able to half pick up over Georgie’s crying.  
  
When he told Mrs Loyts over the phone she had said it was because of all the changes, that he was just getting used to everything as well. When she had asked how Bill was holding up he had said he was fine, happy even. Bill thought that her disbelief was almost audible.  
  
He got a job at Harvey’s, a little cafe along the docks near the library. He and Georgie were slowly figuring out a routine and the familiar discomfort he always had with him back in the city was slowly fading away. It was replaced with an odd mixture of relief and exhaustion.  
  
He didn’t think anyone would notice how tired he felt but Stan had. Stan, with his contagious smile and pretty hair and sharp sarcasm. He had looked at Bill while everyone was talking and asked if he was ok. He had talked to Bill gently, looking at him with such an odd fondness and Bill had felt his chest tighten and his mind fog up.  
  
Bill fidgeted through the whole exchange, messing with his hair and repeating everything he was saying in his head at least a dozen times. They didn’t talk about much, just Bill’s new job and the hours he worked but Stan had smiled at him and if Bill just happened to spend the rest of his day smiling too, well that was his business. 

 

* * *

  
  
Bill worked from half past 3 to 9 PM Tuesday to Saturday. On Mondays he worked from 6 to 9. The pay was good and the work wasn’t hard. Bill had exactly two co-workers; Buck Harvey, the owner and manager and Karl Dickson the co-owner and cook. Bill’s job was to serve customers and clean tables.  
  
It wasn’t something Bill had a particularly strong incline for but he was good enough at a service smile and polite small talk when taking orders. Usually, his shifts were quiet, he would do his homework or write in his notebook between customers. Georgie would occupy himself with playing at the park or running up and down the pier until it got dark, then he’d come in and do whatever homework he had to. It was a fairly steady routine.  
  
He had been working for exactly a week and a half when that routine was broken by the one and only Beverly Marsh walking through the little glass door and ringing the bell. A guy was with her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and he had a sleazy smile on his face. Bev had a small sad smile, that didn’t look appropriate on her face.  
  
Bill assumed it was Tom, the boyfriend. Richie had called him a “dickless douchewaffle” at lunch when Bev mentioned having a date with him that afternoon. Everyone else had nodded in agreement, Bill felt like he had been missing something.  
  
Now looking at him, Bill could understand the nods. Tom looked like a weasel in an oversized leather jacket, with greased back hair and the keys to his Audi swinging loosely in his hand. Bill didn’t even need to talk to him to know that Tom wasn’t going to be someone he got along with.  
  
“Hey Bev” he greeted with a smile, closing the book he was reading and standing ready to take their order  
  
“Hey, Bill” Bev smiles at him, softly and unsure. So unlike the Bev that Bill had gotten to know over the past few weeks. “How’s work been?”  
  
“Quiet, Mike will probably come in for a bit once his shift ends. Georgie’s across the road at the park”  
  
Tom looks between them, scowling just a little before plastering a fake smile on his face and interrupting Beverly before she has the chance to speak again  
  
“Bill was it? I’ll have a turkey club, black coffee two sugars. She’ll have a Ceasar salad” he says Bills name with a ridiculous smug tone, eyeing the name tag Bill had clipped to his shirt.  
  
Inwardly Bill rolled his eyes, outwardly he put on his own fake smile and started tallying the cost of their meal  
  
“Sure, what would you like to drink Bev?”  
  
“I’ll-“  
  
“She’s not having anything” Tom interrupts, openly glaring at Bill now. His arm had dropped from Bev’s shoulder to around her waist, his finger pressed into her hip so hard that Bill could see the indents they were making.  
  
Bill would have said something, would have told Tom to go fuck himself, would have asked Beverly what she wanted again but she shook her head, mouthed a little “no” while her eyes were silently begging him to stay quiet.  
  
“Ok then, your total comes to $23.50”  
  
Tom pays, with his stupid smug smile and fingers still leaving indents on Beverlys hip. He says Bills name again, in the same smug tone. Beverly looks so small at his side. They sit at the back, in a booth.  
  
The cafe was quiet, the only other patrons were an elderly couple sitting outside who already had their food. Bill didn’t take long grabbing their orders, heating up Toms stupid turkey club in the kitchen.  
  
Karl was watching him over the top of the magazine he was reading, eyebrows raised as Bill slammed the microwave door shut.  
  
“What’s wrong with you Billy boy?” He asked, sounding amused “rude customers?”  
  
“Yeah, something like that. How rude can I be back before Buck decides to fire me?”  
  
Karl laughs, putting his magazine down and looking at Bill  
“Buck isn’t gonna fire you for being a little rude to a customer, he likes you and having you around means he doesn’t have to work all day. Short of stealing or quitting you’re stuck with us” he says “just don’t get in a fist fight cause you’re the one who will be cleaning it up”  
  
Bill snorts as the microwave beeps, taking out the turkey club and waving at Karl as he leaves. He makes the coffee last, he’s tempted to spit in it. He decides to bring Bev water.  
  
“Here’s your food,” he says, placing their orders in front of them. Tom glares at the water as Bev thanks him  
  
“What is that?” He asks, pointing at the glass  
  
“Water, it comes with the meal if you don’t order a drink” Bill lies “it doesn’t cost anything extra if that’s what you're wondering”  
  
“She’s not having anything, take it back” he orders and Bill rolls his eyes, already beginning to walk away  
  
“When I clear your table, I’ll be taking all of the dishes” he informs, returning behind the counter to continue with his homework.  
  
Bill gets through 5 pages of the reading for English before the elderly couple get up to leave and he has to clear their table. He doesn’t even spend a full 2 minutes outside but when he comes back in, Bev and Tom are arguing.  
  
“It’s just water, Tom,” Bev says, exasperation colouring her voice. Bill can’t see Tom but he can practically feel the anger radiating off of him.  
  
“It’s not just the water Bevvy, it’s lunch too. You’ve stopped coming out with me for what? To sit with a bunch of boys. I’m the only boy you need to be sitting with. Not some fairy losers”  
  
“They’re my friends and I’ve told you already, I don’t like leaving for lunch, I always get caught.”  
  
“Or maybe you just don’t love me enough” his voice drips with resentment and contempt, Bill can see Bev’s face twist from annoyed to worried in a second and he ducks back into the kitchen before they can see him eavesdropping.  
  
“Hey Karl can you do me a favour?” He asks, gently taking the magazine fthem his hands  
  
“Sure what is it?” Karl looks up, eyes on Bill  
  
“Can you go across the road and get Georgie back inside for me?”  
  
“Sure kid, something happening?” He asks, already standing up and untying his apron  
  
“Somethings about to” Bill sighs and Karl sighs too, nodding like he knew exactly what Bill meant.  
  
“Yeah ok, I’ll be back in a few” Karl waves at him, leaving out the back door.  
  
Bill wasn’t in the kitchen for long but when he gets back to the counter the argument Bev and Tom had been having had escalated. They were both standing just outside the booth now, Beverly had her bag and jacket like she was about to leave, Tom was holding onto her wrist so tightly Bill just knew that it would bruise.  
  
“Well maybe if you weren’t such a slut I wouldn’t be so worried about you hanging out with a bunch of boys!” He yelled, pulling her closer towards him roughly. Bill knew he should do something but his mind was blanking, he just watched as Beverly yelled back.  
  
“They’re my friends! What the fuck do you think we’re doing? Having an orgy in the courtyard? We eat lunch dumbass!” She pulled herself away from him equally as rough, trying to pry his hand from her wrist.  
  
“Don’t you fucking tell me I’m being a dumbass! You're my girlfriend Beverly! You're supposed to be spending time with me not some losers you go to school!”  
  
“I’m spending time with you right now jackass! And guess what? I’d rather be at fucking school with them than here with you!” Beverly spits, finally pulling free from Tom but soon as she finishes speaking Toms’ hand strikes out, hitting her across the face.  
  
Bill’s mind jumpstarts at the sickening crack, and he moves towards Tom, pulling him away from Beverly and towards the door.  
  
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Tom struggles against Bill, pulling his arms free as Bill tries to restrain them. Bill wants so badly to punch Tom right in the face but the best he could do right now was to get him out of the cafe.  
  
“Let go of me right fucking now or I’ll kill you! I fucking mean it! I don’t give a shit if you’re Bevvy’s fucking side piece I’ll rip your fucking eyes out!”  
  
Beverly was watching them, her eyes unfocused as Bill manhandled Tom out of the door and locked it, he flipped the sign to closed as Tom banged on the door, shouting. Karl came out from the kitchen, Georgie half hidden behind his legs.  
  
“I take it that’s the something” Karl grumbles, pointing to Tom. Bill nods.  
  
“I’ll fucking kill you!” Tom shouts and bangs his fist against the glass again. Karl sighs.    
  
“I’m getting the shotgun.”

 

* * *

  
  
“Tom ran away when he saw the shotgun” Bill said quietly, handing the ice pack to Bev. Her cheek was red and a bruise was forming. Georgie was watching them, his fingers stuck in his mouth, his other hand was holding on tightly to the back of Bill’s shirt.  
  
Beverly didn’t acknowledge that she’d heard him, her eyes on where Tom had been standing. She was breathing slowly and rhythmically.  
  
“Do you want me to drive you home?” She took her head, letting out a shuddering sigh. Her eyes were shining with tears she was refusing to let fall.  
  
“Do you want to come home with us?”  
  
“Can you make a stop first?” She croaks and Bill nods, smiling a little.

* * *

 

  
Bev sat on the steps of the porch, smoke curling around her face. It was darker now, Georgie had fallen asleep quickly after they got home, Bill didn’t bother making him brush his teeth or take a shower tonight.  
  
Instead, his focus was on Bev, who’s one request had been that they stop for cigarettes on their way home and had since been chain smoking on the porch. Bill could see the faint outline of the deep red bruise, already beginning to fade into an ugly purple.  
  
“I’m sorry about the scene we caused” she whispered hoarsely, from the smoke and the lump in her throat “he’s not usually like that. It had just been a bad day” she says, Bill doesn’t even need to look at her to know she doesn’t believe a word of what she’s saying.  
  
“Are you going to leave him?” Bill asked quietly, his knees knocking against hers as they sat, under the stars and the dim glow coming from the porch light. Bev sighed, running a hand through her hair.  
  
“Probably not” she sounds exhausted, almost like she was on her very last thread  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“I don’t know” She laughs, hollow and wet. Bill pretends not to see the tears slipping down her cheeks.

* * *

  
  
Bev sleeps on Bills couch that night and she makes them all breakfast in the morning. Bill drops her at home after he gets Georgie to school and he doesn’t see her again until lunch, she’s holding a bouquet of roses and wrapped in the arms of Tom. The bruise on her cheek is covered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone who waited so patiently for me to continue this story, it means the world to me that you all enjoy what I’m writing so thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, updates will most likely be inconsistent but I will try to get a new chapter out every week or two. I hope you have a radical day - Ottie


End file.
